THIRTY-FOUR
ANNABEL
I was only vaguely aware of the cheers erupting across the battlefield. Adrenaline still thrummed in my veins, but I couldn’t take in any of the euphoria spreading among the einherjar and Valkyries as Surtr’s army fled, the rift between Asgard and the human world healing in a ripple of golden light.
With every pulse of my heart, the ache of loss penetrated deeper now that I had no purpose left. I had done my duty. I had fulfilled my destiny.
And I had lost part of my soul in the process.
“We should go back. To Valhalla,” Modi said softly. His warm hand closed around my shoulder. “Grim gave his life for every other living being. We owe him a vigil.”
“We owe him a lot more than that,” Bjarni rumbled, the grief in his voice echoing through my own anguished heart.
Sa
